- France were knocked out of Euro 2024 after losing 2-1 to Spain in the semi-final
- Many French stars put in disappointing displays and were slammed by L’Equipe
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France’s stars have been slammed by the French press after their Euro 2024 semi-final defeat by Spain.
Didier Deschamps’ side were beaten 2-1 by La Roja on Tuesday night as goals from Lamine Yamal and Dani Olmo condemned them to their fate after Randal Kolo Muani had opened the scoring.
Despite reaching the final four, France’s exit capped what had been an underwhelming tournament as Les Bleus scored just one goal from open play and put in several uninspiring performances.
And, after their narrow defeat on Tuesday night, L’Equipe were one of many French outlets to castigate Didier Deschamps’ side as they handed out several dreadful ratings.
Their front page was equally as critical as they shared a photo of Mbappe looking glum without his mask on with the caption ‘DEMASQUES’, which translates as ‘unmasked’.
Meanwhile, Le Figaro said: ‘Mbappe (again) fails, Dembele too, Rabiot all soft’, with the paper handing the Les Bleus captain a 2/10 rating.
Other outlets also questioned whether Euro 2024 was a ‘failed competition for the French team’, while Le Monde claimed Deschamps’ side were ‘outclassed’ by Spain, leading to a ‘bitter end to the Euros‘.
L’Humanite continued on the theme of France struggling against Luis de la Fuente’s side as they said: ‘La Roja pushes aside Les Bleus in the semi-final’.
Le Parisien claimed Les Blues ‘reached their glass ceiling’ against Spain, which ultimately led to their elimination.
Meanwhile, in terms of L’Equipe’s brutal ratings, star man Mbappe failed to impress again despite assisting Kolo Muani’s goal and the Real Madrid star was given a 3/10 rating, with the French outlet claiming he was ‘too often powerless (and) wasted good shots’.
It wasn’t much better for Mbappe’s fellow attackers, as Ousmane Dembele also scored a 3/10 after ‘too many imprecisions’, while Kolo Muani was given just 4/10 despite his goal, with L’Equipe saying ‘he never managed to exist’ after putting France ahead.
The overall average mark for France was 3.6/10 in a dire indication of their performance and exit.
Mike Maignan and Dayot Upamecano both scored 4/10, while Jules Kounde picked up a 5/10 even though he deflected Olmo’s decisive effort into his own net.
Arsenal’s William Saliba was the only player to come out with any credit for Les Bleus, as the defender scored a 6/10 rating.
L’Equipe highlighted how ‘over the duration of the duration of the match (he was) the most reliable defender’.
However, things were the worst for his fellow defender Theo Hernandez who was mocked by a 2/10 rating as he struggled to get to grips with Spain wonderkid Yamal.
‘Very complicated evening,’ the reasoning read. ‘He (Hernandez) was unable to manage either the numerical inferiority situations linked to Yamal’s calls, or the one-on-ones against the same Yamal.
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‘He ended up shaking the young striker (35th), without effect. His inertia then was disarming, as was his shot, with his right foot, alone in front of goal but well above (76th).’
Elsewhere, the midfield trio of N’Golo Kante, Aurelien Tchouameni and Adrien Rabiot all scored a 3/10 in a worrying indictment of France’s weaknesses.
Rabiot was described as ‘not existing against the Spanish technique’, while it later added that his attempts to close down Yamal for his goal gave ‘the feeling that his legs were cut off’.
For Tchouameni, when describing his performance, L’Equipe said: ‘The Spanish gave him a nightmare between the lines.’
Kante didn’t fare much better as the outlet added: ‘He spent his first half playing backwards and not feeling the offensive moves, which irritated Didier Deschamps. Add to that the defensive cover that was far below his usual standard.’
Meanwhile, Deschamps scored just 3/10 as his tactical acumen was again called into question.
‘His team never showed any signs of revolt,’ the analysis read. ‘And his changes, apart perhaps from the entry of Barcola, did not transform it.
‘The Blues went through the second half as if they had a result to preserve, not an equaliser to snatch. No one was able to bring about a change in collective attitude.’
On the other hand, things looked much brighter for Spain, with all of their stars scoring at least a 5/10.
Rodri and Olmo were both given a 7/10, with L’Equipe glowing in their praise for both players.
For Rodri, they said: ‘Another very clean performance for the brain of the Roja, who was invaluable in reassuring everyone when his team was behind and who almost always made the right choices in the game.
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‘He recovers the balls and then distributes them with astonishing ease, and he again had a ridiculous waste.’
Meanwhile, for Olmo, L’Equipe added: ‘The Blues had a hell of a time containing him, but who can defend against such a poison?
‘He is constantly moving, and his controls stick to his foot. A technical treat, like on his goal (25th), where he links an outside hook to eliminate Tchouameni and a cross shot with his right.’
But it was Yamal who stole the show, with the 16-year-old handed a rare 8/10 by the notoriously difficult to impress outlet.
He was described as ‘a phenomenon, quite simple’, while his goal was labelled ‘a lightning speak, a marvel of a curling shot from the left from 25 metres under the nose of Rabiot and unstoppable for Maignan’, with it added that ‘Spain were behind and not very serene’ before his dramatic intervention.
Finally, in contrast to Deschamps, Spain boss Luis de la Fuente was also showered in praise.
In their analysis, L’Equipe explained: ‘He had said that he did not want to deny himself but that only the result mattered, and his team was able to withdraw and endure without being often worried.
‘It exudes confidence and his management has a lot to do with it.’
While France head home, Spain will watch England’s semi-final against the Netherlands on Wednesday night with bated breath as they wait to see who their opponents will be in Sunday’s final.